


hard times

by parkerxheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Gen, Hugs, Hurt, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Poor Peter Parker, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 09:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkerxheart/pseuds/parkerxheart
Summary: Peter bit down on his trembling bottom lip so hard it could bleed. His eyes burned. He didn’t want to cry in front of Captain freaking America and the embarrassment almost made him lose it.“Hey,” Steve whispered, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “It’s okay.”“No it’s not,” Peter whispered, knowing that if he raised his voice any higher it would crack and he’d cry.Steve pried the pillow from his grip and wrapped his other arm around him, hugging him fully. “You can cry, Peter. It’s okay to cry about things like this.”ORPeter couldn't save someone and Steve gives him comfort and hugs.





	hard times

Peter sat, curled into a fetal position, cuddling a pillow, on his bed, trying to forget what just happened less than an hour ago.

He couldn’t save her.

That woman in the fire.

The first person that died on his watch.

He knew the Avengers probably had to deal with that way more than him, but he couldn’t help but think that it was his fault for not getting to her sooner. By the time he found her, she was burned beyond recognition and Peter almost threw up as this intense nausea overcame him.

There was a quiet knock on his already open door. 

He turned his head to see Steve leaning on the door frame. “Hey,” the soldier said gently. “You okay?”

Peter nodded and squeezed the pillow tighter. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Steve said, walking into the room and sitting next to Peter. “I know what happened. It’s not your fault.”

“It is,” Peter whispered. “I couldn’t save her.”

“You can’t always save everybody,” Steve said softly. “I wish you could.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I couldn’t save my uncle.”

Ben got shot because he froze up and couldn’t save him from the gunshot. He couldn’t save him as he bled out on the sidewalk, staining it red, while Peter could do nothing but cry and scream for someone to call an ambulance. It was undoubtedly the worst day of Peter’s life and it wasn’t even close.

Steve visibly tensed. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s just flashbacks,” Peter murmured. “I’m getting a lot.”

“Don’t think about what could have been, Peter,” Steve said softly, touching Peter’s shoulder. “There’s nothing you could have done. You might have been the one in the body bag if things went differently.”

Peter didn’t say anything to that and hugged the pillow tighter. “Why do things always feel like they’re my fault?”

“I don’t know,” Steve said quietly. “But you have to understand that these things aren’t your fault. I know it’s hard sometimes.”

Peter bit down on his trembling bottom lip so hard it could bleed. His eyes burned. He didn’t want to cry in front of _Captain freaking America_ and the embarrassment almost made him lose it. 

“Hey,” Steve whispered, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” Peter whispered, knowing that if he raised his voice any higher it would crack and he’d cry. 

Steve pried the pillow from his grip and wrapped his other arm around him, hugging him fully. “You can cry, Peter. It’s okay to cry about things like this.”

He didn’t want to. He really didn’t want to, but those words seemed to trigger something and he started to cry in a way that he hadn’t in months, pressing his face into Steve’s chest. Unsurprisingly, Steve gave great hugs, which was probably the only reason Peter stayed in his arms for so long. 

“Shh, it’s alright,” Steve soothed, rubbing Peter’s back. “Let it out.”

“Why does nothing ever go right for me?” Peter wailed. “Why do I keep losing people?”

Steve just shushed him again and held him tighter. 

Peter hoped no one else could hear him through the open door, and then realized that he actually didn’t care anymore. 

After a while, when the tears finally came to a stop, Peter removed his face from Steve’s chest and ran his hands along his cheeks to wipe away the salt water. 

“You gonna be okay?” Steve asked gently, watching Peter wipe his face. 

“Probably,” Peter croaked. 

“You wanna go to the bathroom and clean up a little?”

Peter nodded and Steve wrapped an arm around his shoulders to lead him to the bathroom down the hall. It was thankfully unoccupied. 

Steve locked the door behind them and grabbed a soft clean washcloth and ran it under the running tap water.

Peter took his time to examine his face. It would be an understatement to say he looked terrible. His face was blotchy and red, his eyes were swollen and puffy from all the crying, and his lip was bleeding a little from biting into it so hard.

Gently turning Peter’s face his way by cupping his cheek, Steve very gingerly cleaned off his face. Peter felt like such a child but let Steve do this anyways. It was kind of nice having someone care about him this much anyways. 

“You’re bleeding,” Steve said.

“I’m okay.”

Steve brushed his lip with the cloth anyway before tossing it aside. “You want another hug?”

Peter nodded slowly and Steve took him in for a hug.

Never in Peter’s life had he ever thought he’d cry into Captain America, much less get a hug from him.

And he found out that he didn’t mind at all.

**Author's Note:**

> so i was just thinking about how steve has this sweet thing that he does when he sees people who are sad in their rooms and gives them a soft lil "hey" and goes and comforts them, and i was thinking "oh hey let's do this with Peter."
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed <3


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